Shaquille O’Neal says he bought a boring financial product years ago in case he squandered his fortune, and it’s poised to pay him $1 million a month starting next year.
The basketball legend known as “Shaq” told the story behind his safety net during the latest episode of the “Dinner Party” podcast. He once asked a “filthy rich guy” — a “Four Seasons, Rolls-Royce” type — how to stay rich.
The man pulled out a napkin, tore it in half, then half again, and said, “If you want to be wealthy, you play with 25, and you save 75.”
O’Neal — who once spent $1 million in a single day when he was 20 — said he began saving aggressively following their conversation. Later, when he began investing his wealth, he wanted to lock in a future income in case those bets didn’t pay off.
“So I had so much money coming in, I put a lot into annuities,” the four-time NBA champion said. “That was my fail-proof just in case the investments don’t work, and this and that.”
An annuity is an insurance product that converts a lump sum or series of premiums into a regular stream of income payments, usually paid in retirement.
O’Neal, who’s touted annuities in the past, said that after he turns 55 next spring, he’ll have “a lot” coming in, “almost for the rest of my life.”
Asked how much he expects to receive, he replied: “I don’t like to brag, but I think at 55 I’ll probably get a million dollars a month.”
O’Neal made several other memorable comments on the podcast. He recalled telling his children, “We ain’t rich; I’m rich,” and informing them of the “stipulations” for receiving any inheritance from him.
“Got to have a master’s. Got to have a bachelor’s,” he said. “If you want to touch the cheese, you got to have two or three degrees.”
O’Neal famously promised his mother he would return to college after turning pro to finish his degree, and went on to earn a bachelor’s, a master’s, and a doctorate.
He also revisited a famous moment in a hotel lobby where a stranger invited him to invest in Google, now Alphabet, before it went public.
The legendary baller said he “put in a little bit” after running the opportunity by his “money guy,” and later read in the newspaper how well early investors in Google had done.
He called the Google bet a “nice big hit,” but then quipped that he lost it all in his 2009 divorce, sticking his tongue out in trademark fashion.
Experiences like that may help explain O’Neal’s taste for annuities, an unglamorous but reliable way to secure a retirement income.
